The Temple Runner
by The Ink Ninja
Summary: Just as story about a beloved game inspired by a review .


**A/N: A one-shot that's been in the works for a long time! It's a bit overdue, but I feel that it was worth it.**

As Terrac crept through the dark passage, it seemed that there was a faint hum in the air. As he neared his goal, the hum grew louder and louder as if there were a thousand bees in the tunnel. These ruins had been here for centuries and yet no one had been able to steal what had been stored deepest in its pits. Many had tried before Terrac. Big names like Guy Dangerous, Scarlett Fox, Barry Bone, Karma Lee, Montana Smith, Francisco Montoya, even Zack Wonder! And yet none could get it.

And now, Terrac Novista, a native from a nearby settlement was going after this famed treasure. Guided only by a torch and a map that a previous explorer used to try to find the treasure (the explorer had run through their village screaming about monsters and on his way through, Terrac had nabbed the map from his pocket. The map was old, but incredibly detailed. It had every passage marked down in great detail as well as where the traps were and how to avoid them.

As Terrac neared even closer to the treasure, the humming filled his ears with a crescendo. It almost made his teeth vibrate. It was as if the treasure was sending out great waves of energy that smacked against Terrac. Finally, after walking five miles to the temple and about a mile of passages as well as dodging several traps. He was covered with all manners of dirt and blood (after misreading the map and accidentally getting nicked by an arrow; fortunately, these ones _weren__'__t_ poisonous). But finally, he was in a grand room, and at the back of it, was a pedestal.

Upon the pedestal was an idol made up of solid gold. The idol depicted the god Escheva, the god of beasts and wild things. The thing was worth millions if not billions of dollars. This was Terrac's ticket to not only to the U.S. but also to fame and fortune for him and his family.

Terrac crept slowly towards the idol. According to the map, there were no traps on the floor or on the pedestal, but Terrac was careful nonetheless. He walked up beside the pedestal and brought his face level with the idol, staring into Escheva's eyes. He brought his hand up next to the idol, and with one quick flourish of his hand, took it.

Terrac waited several seconds and when nothing happened, he began to walk off to the entrance of the temple. He wasn't looking forward to the long trek ahead of him, but afterward, he would be rich and prosperous. Then as he turned to leave, a panel in the wall slid up slowly, revealing a dark space inside the wall. Terrac looked at the wall and saw several small shining orbs from inside the wall. He then realized that these orbs were in fact eyes!

Then one of the small, beady eyes came closer and walked out of the hole in the wall. What Terrac saw was not a man, or any type of beast he had ever seen. The thing most closely resembled a monkey. If the monkey had been killed, and then brought back to life after several months. The thing was all skin and bones (with most of its skull exposed to the world), but still looked like it could crush a human bone. From the blood and what looked like the corpse of another one of these undead monkeys in the hole, Terrac had thought that they had probably resorted to cannibalism to survive.

At first, Terrac felt pity for the poor creature. Then looking down at the statue in his hands, resumed leaving the temple and going back to his village. But it seemed that one of the monkey-like things also spotted the idol. It sniffed the air to confirm what it was looking at (spending most of your life in a dark hole in the wall will not do wonders for your eyesight). Now sure of what Terrac was holding, the monkey's (since Terrac had decided that was what they were) eyes narrowed and it snarled at him.

The monkey called to its companions, who also narrowed their eyes. With a blood-curdling shriek, the monkeys charged at Terrac in fury. Terrac ran out of the room and into another corridor. He reached for the map to find his way out of the temple and into daylight, but realized that he had dropped it in the room that the monkeys had been in! He couldn't go back and get it, so he just kept on running.

Fortunately, Terrac had kept the idol safe. He thought that he remembered the way out, and took a turn, attempting to dodge any traps. He zigged and zagged through the tunnels. He couldn't look back to see if the monkeys were still following him, but judging by the high-pitched shrieks from behind him, he assumed they were.

Terrac took another turn that he thought brought him closer to the entrance, but he realized too late that this was not the narrow passage that he had come in earlier that day. Instead, this was a large stone bridge, with dark and murky waters below. Terrac tried to turn back, but the monkeys were too close to turn around. So Terrac just kept running, hoping that this would bring him back to his village somehow.

He ran fast on the bridge taking many turns and twists. Terrac soon realized that this was not just any bridge, but a labyrinth! Probably one with just as much scale as the tunnels he was just in.

As Terrac ran he saw that the bridge was old and had not aged well. There were many cracks in it and even parts of it that were completely missing! There were parts of it that were wooden. The bridge was riddled with coins and money, that Terrac was able to pick up along his way. When he finally made it out, Terrac would be incredibly rich. If he ever made it out...

As Terrac worked his way deeper and deeper into the maze, he thought of all of the things that could kill him. The bridge was rather thin and there were many missing pieces of it, so falling off wouldn't be too hard. There were probably many crocodiles in the waters too. There were also many tree roots blocking the way that Terrac could trip over and break his head on the hard stone floor of the bridge. And on top of that there were the vicious monkeys chasing after him! If Terrac tripped or slipped even a little, the monkeys would catch up to him and surely devour him.

So in spite of his fear, Terrac raced on through the bridge maze. The bridge seemed to go on forever, and Terrac couldn't see an exit in sight. He jumped and ducked through this terrible stone maze.

At one point, Terrac got one of his pant legs stuck on a tree root, sticking out of the ground. He managed to get it unstuck, but the monkeys were getting close. Terrac could practically feel their warm breath on the back of his neck, and it felt as if they were shrieking directly in his ear.

Eventually, a bit more distance was established between Terrac and the monkeys, but his ears were still ringing with their screaming in his ears. But Terrac kept running. He ran and ran. Even when both sweat and hair blurred his vision. Even when his legs burned with exhaustion, he kept running.

But Terrac never did get out. However, he was never caught either. His determination kept him alive. Nobody treads in the temple anymore. But it's said that sometimes, if the sky is clear, and the world is quiet, you can still hear Terrac's feet pounding the ground, and the shrieks of the monkeys giving chase...

**A/N: Kirby: Wanted update soon (next time: Confrontation)!**


End file.
